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shallownessGotham 4.6 Hog Day Afternoon
No kids, and it really has been too long since we saw Selina (and Ivy undermines Penguin’s claims to know if anyone had issues with him).
The best bits involved the grotesque but funny new villain, Penguin’s struggles and Jim’s affection for Harvey.
The stuff at the underground fight club was ‘meh’. Lee also referred to Grundy by his old name, but did he show a flicker of interest? No, she’s just a pretty girl. Also, his two fights were a bit samey. Ed continued to be mean but stupid. Lee pointed out she had no reason to help him return to being the man who killed her friend etc. etc. She had reason to be dismissive, but what he if he hadn’t been as feeble as she’d thought? Anyway, we found out that under the tough exterior, she had a clinic for Narrows patients (this heartened me because I associate her character with this from what I vaguely remember of Batman the Animated Series from the 90s).
Honestly though, I spent some of these scenes concentrating on how resonant the voice of the actor playing Butch/Grundy/Swamp Thing is.
The voice of Professor Pyg was also fascinating to listen to (I thought for a bit he might be played by Alexander Siddig – he sometimes sounded a bit Scottish, then English then nothing else entirely). The final scene made me wonder if he was Penn…
But even though it was sick, it was an entertaining brand of demented, and his motivations seemed quite lucid, if wrong. The visuals of the pig face on him and his victims was strong, the escalation and the conversation with Jim about his motivations were intriguing. Of course, this is like the eleventybillionth character/villain on the show.
I never understood why Harvey didn’t tell Jim (because Jim was always going to do it this way) that they should warn ALL the cops and thus Penguin’s bagmen they were in danger. I don’t care about GCPD’s corruption or Jim’s methods (who are you calling demented when you jump down a storey tied up in a chair to effect a rescue? Oh, you got up unharmed and saved the day. Carry on.) I mildly care about Jim’s affection for Harvey, making him blind to the fact he was on the take, but this was not the most engrossing bit of detecting.
Fortunately, there was also Penguin’s ‘friendship’ with Sofia, who is playing on reminding him of his mother and being a fellow motherless child, trying to save him from being her father all over again. It’s complicated. But Victor hilariously saw it as romantic.
Robin Lord thingy did some fascinating blinking in his opening scene to show Penguin’s conflicted feelings (or possibly to do some subliminal messaging via Morse?) Jim was untrusting, growly and possessive towards Sofia. She continues to be self-possessed around unstable men, but she’s not 13, Jim can’t just bundle her ‘home’. Or pick her up and throw her over his shoulder. Caveman.
Penguin had set aside his violent paranoia, then it came back, and even though it was obvious she wasn’t building a fortress, but up to something else and that Penguin was going to have ‘a chat’ and not kill her offhand and then feel tragic sad guilt for his whoopsie, it still played out entertainingly. She was the character I applauded. And Penguin and Victor are a far more entertaining double-act for me than Ed and Grundy.
Selina next week, PLEASE.
And it's been confirmed Gotham will have a fithfth and final episode. I hope knowing this will
No kids, and it really has been too long since we saw Selina (and Ivy undermines Penguin’s claims to know if anyone had issues with him).
The best bits involved the grotesque but funny new villain, Penguin’s struggles and Jim’s affection for Harvey.
The stuff at the underground fight club was ‘meh’. Lee also referred to Grundy by his old name, but did he show a flicker of interest? No, she’s just a pretty girl. Also, his two fights were a bit samey. Ed continued to be mean but stupid. Lee pointed out she had no reason to help him return to being the man who killed her friend etc. etc. She had reason to be dismissive, but what he if he hadn’t been as feeble as she’d thought? Anyway, we found out that under the tough exterior, she had a clinic for Narrows patients (this heartened me because I associate her character with this from what I vaguely remember of Batman the Animated Series from the 90s).
Honestly though, I spent some of these scenes concentrating on how resonant the voice of the actor playing Butch/Grundy/Swamp Thing is.
The voice of Professor Pyg was also fascinating to listen to (I thought for a bit he might be played by Alexander Siddig – he sometimes sounded a bit Scottish, then English then nothing else entirely). The final scene made me wonder if he was Penn…
But even though it was sick, it was an entertaining brand of demented, and his motivations seemed quite lucid, if wrong. The visuals of the pig face on him and his victims was strong, the escalation and the conversation with Jim about his motivations were intriguing. Of course, this is like the eleventybillionth character/villain on the show.
I never understood why Harvey didn’t tell Jim (because Jim was always going to do it this way) that they should warn ALL the cops and thus Penguin’s bagmen they were in danger. I don’t care about GCPD’s corruption or Jim’s methods (who are you calling demented when you jump down a storey tied up in a chair to effect a rescue? Oh, you got up unharmed and saved the day. Carry on.) I mildly care about Jim’s affection for Harvey, making him blind to the fact he was on the take, but this was not the most engrossing bit of detecting.
Fortunately, there was also Penguin’s ‘friendship’ with Sofia, who is playing on reminding him of his mother and being a fellow motherless child, trying to save him from being her father all over again. It’s complicated. But Victor hilariously saw it as romantic.
Robin Lord thingy did some fascinating blinking in his opening scene to show Penguin’s conflicted feelings (or possibly to do some subliminal messaging via Morse?) Jim was untrusting, growly and possessive towards Sofia. She continues to be self-possessed around unstable men, but she’s not 13, Jim can’t just bundle her ‘home’. Or pick her up and throw her over his shoulder. Caveman.
Penguin had set aside his violent paranoia, then it came back, and even though it was obvious she wasn’t building a fortress, but up to something else and that Penguin was going to have ‘a chat’ and not kill her offhand and then feel tragic sad guilt for his whoopsie, it still played out entertainingly. She was the character I applauded. And Penguin and Victor are a far more entertaining double-act for me than Ed and Grundy.
Selina next week, PLEASE.
And it's been confirmed Gotham will have a fithfth and final episode. I hope knowing this will
